Testa's book is not only a stimulating read but also a vast source of information, confronting readers with different fields that they may not have considered before. The notes to the main text fill almost one-quarter of the entire book, which, combined with the rich bibliography and index, make it a 'database on paper'-though this database is wisely restricted to some aspects of the Italian academies project. (Bernd Kulawik, Accademia de lo Studio de L'Architetture, accademia-vitruviana.net, July 22, 2018)
The work is easy to navigate, thanks to the useful index of all academies discussed. ... Testa's book, itself the product of a collaborative network of scholars, offers a wealth of information on early modern intellectual networks in Italy. Together with the Italian Academies Database, it will be a valuable tool for any scholar interested in this phenomenon, as it makes visible the complex academic network across the Italian peninsula, connecting books, people, and cities. (Anna-Luise Wagner, Modern Language Review, Vol. 113, April, 2018)Simone Testa holds an MA in History from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland and a Phd in Italian Literature from Royal Holloway (University of London, England) on political discourse in sixteenth-century Italy. He has been working on the Italian Academies Database (http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/ItalianAcademies/About.aspx) for two consecutive phases, while teaching at various institutions in Britain. He has been Visiting Research Fellow at the John Rylands Research Institute at the University of Manchester, UK; the Newberry Library in Chicago, USA; and the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin, USA. This is his second book.